“According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate beings condemning them to spend their lives in search for their other halves.”

~Plato’s The Symposium.

How many times will I reblog this? “Always.”

We did it at school. The myth also says that the pairings could be male/female, male/male or female/female (just sayin’)

This is a big month - Jupiter will change signs, and just as importantly, July 1 ends the endless series of retrograde planets. If you felt that making progress this year was tough so far, you are right. Venus, Mercury (your ruler), and Mars were all retrograde, but not at the same time, impeding all progress for weeks at a time.

Take a look at these start and end dates of the retrograde planets: Venus, ruling love, affection, beauty and to some degree, profits, was retrograde December 21, 2013 to January 31, 2014. Then Mercury, ruling contracts, agreements, and negotiations, retrograded February 7 to February 28. Mars, the great energy planet that boosts all ventures into the stratosphere, went out of phase March 1 to May 19. By then, you were probably at the end of your rope, just like the rest of us, but it was not over yet.

Last month, in June, your ruler, Mercury went retrograde again, June 7 to July 1. You will be gratified to know Mercury went direct July 1, and will not go retrograde again until October 4 to October 25. Compared to the first half of 2014, that October Mercury retrograde, lasting three and a half weeks, will seem like nothing much. October brings two eclipses, a full moon lunar eclipse on October 8 and a new moon solar eclipse on October 23, so it's just as well you'll need to slow down in October.

Venus, Mercury, and Mars spin very close to earth and have a more direct effect on our day-to-day lives than the bigger outer planets do when retrograde. The outer planets include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. We do feel the effects of the retrogrades of the big planets as powerfully as the personal planets can do on a day-to-day basis. The outer planets go out of phase for four to five months at a time (yes!) so the affect is very different, and milder.

When any planet retrogrades, it withholds its most powerful benefits from us, so we mortals are left to cope as best we can. It takes work and a lot of concentration. If you look at the dates of the series of retrogrades of Venus, Mercury, and Mars so far this year, there was no oasis - those planets dovetailed almost precisely with their onset and direct dates, leaving no rest for the weary. You are a hard worker, and you rarely have problems with concentration, so you likely made progress in spite of the lack of help from the planets, but it took all the energy you had to give to do it. Life is about to become easier from now on.

As an aside, I am asked, is it bad to be born with Mercury retrograde? No. A baby born with Mercury retrograde is said to be more philosophical and probing of life's questions than ones that are not. I am born with Mercury retrograde, and it has never hampered my progress. On the other hand, there's a rumor among some astrologers that if you are born with Mercury retrograde, you don't feel its maddening affects as much. Not true! I go through the same nightmares you do, with delayed meetings and an inability to get approvals in timely fashion. If you work in publishing, broadcasting, or travel, all industries ruled by Mercury, you feel the effects even more. We are all glad Mercury turned direct as of July 1, but I will add, as said earlier, Mercury will come up to even better speed by July 16, to the sign and mathematical degree (Cancer, 3 degrees) when he went retrograde in the first place back on June 7.

When Venus retrogrades, it limits love, beauty, affection, and profits. When Mars retrogrades, ventures are in danger of not lifting off properly, as Mars when moving direct supplies competitive, assertive, courageous energy with the goal to win. It is the booster rocket to all major ventures, but it tends to retrograde for a long period, in this case March 1 to May 19, so regrettably many business deals had to be done under Mars retrograde, never an ideal situation when making money is the goal. It was not practical for companies to keep waiting for the right time to act. You can fix things as situations come up in future months, so don't fret too much.

Mercury, as your ruler, is responsible for your reputation to be a sharp analyzer of various situations and for your talent for thinking on your feet, especially in a crisis. When others are falling apart at the seams, you are at your best, always remaining realistic, practical, and grounded. Mercury is the intellectual, objective planet that rules communication, negotiation, and contracts. Last month you needed to wait until July to sign or to buy electronic gadgets (for when Mercury is retrograde, it is not wise to do either), but now that Mercury is going direct, you have an open road. Mercury will not retrograde again until October 4 to 26, 2014. There will be no personal planets (the ones that spin closest to Venus, Mars) retrograde either.

Let's now look at July in depth. The new moon of June 27 was in Cancer, 6 degrees, and lit your house of friendship / people / events / and hopes and wishes. This new moon was a positive one and opened you up to more social activity. All new moons are strong for ten days, so as you begin July, you will be feeling this energy. You are the zodiac's hardest worker, so this new moon will help you rebalance your life with more fun activities. Single or attached, you'll be pushing back from your computer and heading out the door - and that's good news for you, as you tend not to find excuses to leave your desk if a task is not finished. You tend to overdo your work schedule, and the universe knows it, dear Virgo. July will be your time to unwind, make new friends, and connect with your current, favorite pals again. It's a time to rest, travel to the seashore, have dinners with pals, share stories, catch a new movie, and visit art openings.

All new moons open a portal, so the actions you take now in the area of social interaction will affect you not only now, in July, but for an entire year to come. This month would be the time to join a real life club, professional or personal, or to get more involved in social media. You will uncover benefits from socializing that you can't quite imagine now, but will soon see what I am talking about if you do. You will expand your circle quite a bit, and you can benefit personally and professionally from your new contacts. Initiate most of your socializing during the first half of July when events will be the most exciting for you. The outcome is apt to be quite wonderful.

If your birthday falls on August 28, plus or minus four days, you will benefit the most from this new moon. The same is true if you have Virgo rising at 4 degrees (or close to that degree) or a natal planet at 4 degrees (plus or minus five degrees) in Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn, or Cancer, Pisces, or Scorpio.

Your full moon this month, July 12, in Capricorn, 20 degrees, will be wildly romantic. It will light your fifth house of true love, and you may have a beautiful dinner with your one-and-only, or attend a very luxurious event, such as a party, benefit, a wedding, or get hard-to-secure tickets to a concert, as a few examples. You may be taking a vacation this month, and if so, it's a good time to go. Saturn will be very friendly to that full moon, and since the full moon is in Capricorn, a sign that blends perfectly with yours, you will see wonderful, long-lasting results from it. If single, the new romantic interest you might meet at this full moon is likely to stick around in your life for a long time (maybe forever).

If attached, both you and your partner are due for a highly romantic time together. Matters of pregnancy, birth, and care and enjoyment of children will be strong. You also may be finishing up a creative project that becomes a jewel in your crown.

The big news of the month is that Jupiter, the giver of gifts and luck, will move out of Cancer and into Leo and your twelfth house. In Leo, you will have help from VIPs behind the scenes, not only this month, but in the coming nearly thirteen months. Having Jupiter in this hidden part of your chart will support all sorts of quiet investigation that you might want to do, say, if you are in the process of writing a book or doing an investigative piece for print or television.

The twelfth house is also associated with the subconscious mind and dreams, and this year your instincts and intuition will be spot-on. Follow all that your instincts tell you, for Jupiter will see to it that you are paid well for your prescience. In coming months, for a full year, while Jupiter spends time in your twelfth house, you will know the answer to questions confronting you, without ever knowing why you do - you just know, like you know your name, which way to go, with great certainty.

Because the twelfth house rules the subconscious mind, you will find that if any thoughts, feelings, or substances have troubled you, the coming months, July 16, 2014 to August 11, 2015, will offer an exceptional opportunity to seek professional advice from a therapist and get solid help. In general this will be a year of cleansing, and of deleting all that you feel is unnecessary or harmful in your life. You must decide what must go, dear Virgo, as the universe cannot fit new things in your life until you empty your basket of some of the things that you no longer need.

You may feel that this visit of Jupiter is very different from what most of the other signs will experience, and you would be right. In the coming year, Jupiter will help you from the inside out, so you can get in touch with your deepest feelings and desires. Others will assume not much is going on because it will all go on within you - but that's powerful! Changes that happen within are transformational! It's a time to center yourself, withdraw from draining obligations and people, and think about what would truly make you happy. You often are so busy doing one project after another that you might not have had time to ask yourself that important question.

You need to make a list of prioritized goals you hope to achieve next year, when Jupiter, giver of gifts and luck, will enter Virgo in August 11, 2015 to stay until September 9, 2016. During that span of time, you will be the celestial favorite of the zodiac and showered with golden vibrations. This is a once-in-twelve-year visit to your sign from Jupiter, so you will want to make it count. The last time you had a year like this it was August 27, 2003 to September 24, 2004, quite a long time ago.

The better part of any action is thinking, and that will be your job to do this year. You may find that in this year, parts of life that seemed to be fixed so tightly, if in fact weak, will go out with the receding tide. The important relationships and elements will remain, but the marginal ones will now leave. It's human nature to continually want to hear it is a great time to begin something new, but to create the very finest performance, we all need to do follow-up and tweaking, and this year you will have the time to do that. If you knew the job you were doing has become boring because you had no room to grow, it will end. Suddenly you might say, "I loved that job!" No, you didn't. You dreamed of leaving, but for various reasons didn't - now the universe in its assessment will pull you out of that job.

The universe has goodies to present to you, but cannot do so unless you have room to fit in the new. I used your job as an example above, but I did so randomly. It could be you are moving out of an apartment now that your landlord sold the building (another random example). You get the idea. Things that were not quite right for you will leave. Be open to change. You are a mutable sign, so you are naturally flexible, a great quality to have in any year.

Be comforted in knowing the universe cannot abide a vacuum, so you can almost bet that opportunities will come up quickly to you as long as you show the universe your intent by being open to all that is new, fresh, and exciting. Hold private, confidential meetings, and build strategy now, as that will be one of the best ways to use Jupiter in Leo. Last year your friends who are Leo went through the same process as you will now, and as of July 16, when Jupiter enters Leo, the lion will be given his/her rightful place as zodiac royalty. In just one year, you will have your coronation, with the same title as Leo gives it up to you. Be ready!

This month holds the luckiest day of the year, Thursday, July 24, when the mighty Sun will meet with benefic Jupiter. Use this day to have a private meeting, or reach out for help on a health or psychological concern. The twelfth house, where Jupiter and the Sun will be meeting, is all about rest and healing. Keep in mind this house is strongly associated with creativity when working alone, behind closed doors, so you may want to present an idea to an authority figure on this glamorous day.

Two days later, on July 26, you will have a new moon that is simply sensational in the very same topics I have listed concerning Jupiter in Leo. A new moon is not just strong for a day, but rather think of a new moon as a portal that opens and brings two weeks of powerful energy. The actions you take in the days following the new moon will have power and punch, and affect you for one year, until the next new moon in Leo will have time to come back and refresh the energy. That will happen on July 23, 2015. As you see, this is a rare and special trend that you can take full advantage of immediately.

More good news: Mars will finally move out of Libra on July 25, the place where Mars has been driving up your expenses for months, since last December. This was a vigorous trend that may have kept you on your toes, forcing you to continually work to balance your checkbook. No doubt you have become determined to outwit life's financial surprises, an exhausting process. At long last, your high monetary outgo will end and you can give a sigh of relief.

Mars will now enter Scorpio, a very compatible place for you, and amp up your interest and ability to travel to close-by cities. Your trips seem to have a profit motive, so they are likely to be taken for work. In that regard, from July 25 to September 13, the time Mars will spend in your travel house, your best clients are likely to be found just out of town - not too far from you, but not around the corner either. You will love the chance to get into a new setting, even if it is for work. Weekend jaunts will become part of the plan too, so all round, you appear to have a great new season shaping up!

You have so much to celebrate, dear Virgo. The start of 2014 will officially begin in July. Say goodbye to the never-ending series of retrograde planets - all that ends now. From now on you will have a more encouraging, productive environment in which to operate. While it is true that Mercury, your ruler, will go retrograde again on October 4 to 26, those three little weeks will pale in comparison to what we have all gone through in the first six months of 2014.

Take some needed rest in July, and see if you can take a vacation sometime in July. You need to unplug and enjoy life. You need to daydream - and don't let anyone tell you that it is a waste of time. This month, it may be the most valuable exercise you do.

Summary

The start of July will bring an exciting flurry of social invitations. The new moon that occurred on June 27, just prior to the dawn of July, opened a portal for lots more fun. If you want to take a vacation with a friend, or go on a trip to see a friend, the first half of July would be ideal. Romance will be in the air, so be open to introductions, and with watery Neptune friendly and prominent, you might want to choose a seaside resort as your setting. Jupiter is in the final days of Cancer, not to return to this sign until June 2025, so enjoy the feeling of friendship and camaraderie that this great benefic planet can bring. It is very likely that it will make you feel brand new.

On July 16, Jupiter, giver of gifts and luck, will move to Leo and your twelfth house, to stay nearly thirteen months, until August 11, 2015. This is the last house until a new cycle will begin when Jupiter moves to Virgo next year in August. The area of your chart that will be lit up by Jupiter from July 16 onward is associated with healing, both emotional and physical, so you will have a great opportunity to dispel any element that has detracted from your health and sense of calm. You can now get great help from medical and psychological professionals, and also overcome any dependency you may have on a substance that's drained your health.

Also during the coming months, you may see certain elements of your life that are no longer productive, enjoyable, or relevant fade away to make room for the new opportunities that will be offered once Jupiter enters Virgo in mid-2015. A cosmic event as big as the one coming in August 2015 to September 2016 requires preparation - it will be the first time Jupiter's entered Virgo since August 2003 to September 2004. It will be up to you now to create space in your life to accept all the new sensational opportunities that will come your way next year. You can't accept the new if your life is overstuffed, like a closet that has things falling off the shelves the minute you open the door.

You will also get help from behind the scenes from a VIP who may or may not conceal his identity - the Sun is involved, so it's likely to be a "he." Watch July 24 as a wonder day for confidential meetings and strategic talks. All kinds of good results can come out of a day when Jupiter meets with the Sun! This day rates a "10" that would be used well for any type of visit to a medical or dental professional, too, assuming you've done your homework and trust the practitioner you are calling upon for advice.

Last month, Mercury was retrograde, causing log jams and delays in almost every direction you looked, but this month, on July 1, Mercury goes direct. You can now resume negotiations and expect to see progress on all fronts. By July 15, Mercury will be moving very rapidly and be fully recovered, in even better shape than on July 1. You can now sign contracts and make big plans and purchases, confident you will not be held back with future glitches. If you simply had to put your signature on certain agreements last month (no way to delay doing that!), you may have adjustments in months ahead, so keep your antenna up.

Dates to Note: VIRGO

Most important dates for love, meetings, or actions on any front for Virgo: July 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 11, 15, 20, 24, 25, 29, and 30.

Mercury goes direct July 1 after having been retrograde since June 7.

Saturn goes direct July 20, after being retrograde since March 2.

No more delays in shopping or contractual matters as of July 1, when Mercury will turn direct. Mercury will grow stronger by July 15, returning to the degree when Mercury originally turned retrograde on June 7.

July 8 may not be a good date night for you, since the Sun will square off with Uranus, adding jarred nerves.

Start working on long-term ideas on the new moon, July 26, so by the time Jupiter moves into Virgo next summer, your ideas will be well developed and ready to launch.

Socially, you will be in demand and invited to all the A-list parties in the first two weeks of July. Be open to making new friends and to being introduced to new romantic interests. Jupiter is about to leave Cancer and your house of people / events / fun on July 16, so while you have Jupiter at your side, make the most of his benefits.

When Jupiter enters Leo from July 16, 2014 to August 11, 2015, you will begin your preparation for your coronation on August 11, 2015 as celestial favorite. To prepare, you must begin to delete all that is no longer relevant to your life now, to make room for the new.

Mars will exit Libra on July 25 and enter Scorpio. For nearly eight months, Mars in Libra has forced up your expenses and may have caused stress concerning money. Say goodbye to that after July 25.

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